Sincere Something
by Cissa DeLancome
Summary: Harry might not be the only one with a little crush. HP/CD - oneshot - SLASH


**Title:** Sincere Something  
**Author:** Natalie  
**Rating:** PG  
**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.  
**Summary:** Harry might not be the only one with a little crush.  
_Oh God, the way he smiled made Harry clench up his stomach for fear that if he didn't, dozens of tiny butterflies would flutter around endlessly in there, distracting him even after the Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain left the room._  
**Notes:** Set in Harry's fourth year some time after the first task. Thank you to **bluemonkeyz8** for betaing and returning this so quickly, and to **domtheknight** for re-betaing. :)

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_Sincere Something_

Oh God, the way he smiled made Harry clench up his stomach for fear that if he didn't, dozens of tiny butterflies would flutter around endlessly in there, distracting him even after the Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain left the room.

He tried to drag his eyes down to his paper again, _The Various Metamorphic Effects of Boomslang Skin_, although the title and opening paragraph were all he had written for the past hour, because _he_ was in the library, too, only one table away and joking and laughing quietly, his eyes lit up and grinning at his friends' remarks. How they managed to hold a conversation with Madam Pince surveilling the library was beyond him; she was probably just as enraptured in Cedric Diggory's glorious presence as Harry was—and everyone else for that matter.

Harry looked around again. At his table, Lavender Brown, Ginny Weasley, Katie Bell, and Colin Creevy were all gazing dreamily at the boy, as his brown silky hair bounced with every turn of his head, full lips caught in a small bite to hold back his bubbly laughter. Harry's eyes were focusing on those pink lips, and before he even realized it, Cedric looked over at him with a tiny quirk of his eyebrows. Harry hastily turned his head straight down to look at his paper.

_Damn it, so much for containing the butterflies_. He made a show of sloppily jotting down some random squiggles with his quill before rolling his eyes at himself, because he would just have to erase them with his wand after. Ron snickered at him, which he had been doing as of late since he had finally noticed that whenever they would pass that particular prefect in the hallways Harry tended to go quiet. Whatever, Harry thought, it's not like he didn't see Ron perk up and turn around to sigh loudly whenever Krum came into the room.

Just then he heard the sound of chairs scraping the floor from the general direction the Hufflepuffs were in, and Harry busied himself with dipping his quill into the ink bottle on his table. Harry saw Cedric's form, followed by his giggling group of friends, approaching his table in his peripheral vision, and when he passed Harry's hand shook slightly from nerves, the tip of his quill stubbing into the parchment sporadically and breaking, leaving an angry black mark on the parchment. Ron sniggered again and Harry shot him a death glare and, resignedly deciding that he wasn't going to get any farther on his essay, began to pack his things up to go.

"See you in the common room," he muttered to Ron before leaving the library.

As he was walking down the corridor he internally scolded himself. _Come on, Harry. Your marks have already been going down since you got entered in this stupid tournament, you don't need another thing distracting you on top of all the dreams. _

He shuddered slightly as he remembered a particularly vivid one from the last night, and stopped in his tracks suddenly when he heard footsteps coming towards him, before recognizing the deep, smooth, heavenly voice that had so often haunted his—ahem, _other_ dreams.

"Hey, Harry," Cedric said, striding over. "How's it going?"

"F-fine," he stammered, "How's it going—about—you?" He cringed and mentally slapped himself.

Cedric smiled. "I've been good. That was some task, huh? Dragons, Lord, I was hoping you were just trying to scare me."

Harry nodded quickly, then stopped and shook his head violently. Cedric laughed warmly and Harry tried not to grin as his heart did a weird leap in his chest, clearing his throat. "Um, what are you doing back here, didn't you leave earlier?"

"Oh, yeah, I just forgot something in the library," Cedric said, grey eyes flicking to the corridor length behind Harry. Harry gave a small nod and said nothing.

"Ahmm…" Cedric's bottom lip was protruding like it always did when he was biting down on it inside, which usually meant he was thinking deeply about something, as Harry had seen many times before while studying late in the library, secretly watching the older boy from across bookshelves, absently imagining what it would be like if Cedric caught him at it one night. _Oh god, what would he say if he knew..._

It took Harry a moment before realizing Cedric was looking seriously at him, like he was contemplating something. He also noticed how much he had to tilt his head to meet Cedric's eyes; the taller boy seemed to be standing a bit closer to him than he had at first, or was he imagining it? Heat rose up to his cheeks and Harry wanted to take a step back but something held him there, like a deer caught in headlights under Cedric's intent gaze, and the two of them stood there staring at each other in silence for a couple seconds longer before he said, horrified that his voice cracked, "Um, Cedric?"

His smooth voice came out a whisper. "What?" Cedric took a step forward, his eyes rather glazed over and looking down ardently at Harry, almost closing the gap between them and raising a pale hand up to Harry's face. Harry's heart rate increased tenfold and his cheeks and neck burned and his eyes fluttered closed, waiting for the touch, but it never came.

He blinked his eyes open awkwardly to see Cedric withdraw his hand and shake his head a fraction of an inch, looking down and back up at him with sincere… something clouding his eyes.

"Sorry about that, I don't… know…"

Harry tried not to look disenchanted about anything and cleared his throat again. "No, problem, yeah…" Cedric definitely wasn't the one who should have been sorry; it was Harry who'd been stealing furtive (or perhaps not so much) glances at the other for over a month now. He was sure his cheeks were still red and Cedric probably noticed it too as he smiled tentatively again in that way that only he could do and which would make anybody's worries melt away.

"So there's a Hogsmeade trip next weekend," he said breezily, as if they hadn't stopped talking before.

"Oh, um, yeah," Harry said, "I expect you'll be going with Cho, right?" He held his breath for a moment as he wondered which of the two he would rather be.

Cedric's smile became crooked. "I don't know…" he started, and he looked off behind Harry again as if trying to remember something. "I think she'd rather go off shopping with her friends than be around me all day." He shrugged a little before turning his regard back down at Harry. Up close, Cedric's face was beautifully angular, like a statue, chiseled perfectly, the curves of his high, noble cheekbones gracefully defined.

"I mean, I'll probably see you down there," Cedric said quietly, lifting Harry out of his daze, voice trailing off timorously and the corners of his mouth upturned slightly before looking away rather shyly.

Harry's stomach clenched up again, in a good way, and he found himself replying quickly, wide-eyed and hopeful looking, "Definitely, yeah, we probably will." _And I probably look like Pigwidgeon at eight in the morning._

Cedric studied him for a moment before smiling broadly, eyes shining in the torchlight. His tongue poked out to wet dry lips, and Harry reflexively did the same. They looked at each other for another long moment, and Harry could hear some faraway clock ticking vaguely, the rise and fall of his chest becoming minutely heavier.

"Well, I, ah, better get going." Cedric reached forward and his fingers just barely brushed Harry's hand, making his breath hitch. His long lashes lowered before slowly opening again, and one glint of his grey eyes said more than he possibly could. "I'll see you later, Harry." And he swiftly turned and walked down the corridor.

As Cedric's footsteps faded down the hall, Harry brought his other hand over to touch the spot where the seekers' nimble fingers had grazed the back of his hand. It tingled, as his cheeks did still, and Harry's eyes widened as he realized something.

Cedric didn't go back to the library.

Harry bit his own lip and repressed a smile. He couldn't wait for the weekend to come.

_-fin-_


End file.
